TECUMSEH — Contracts with three unions were approved Monday by the Tecumseh Board of Education. All three of the bargaining units approved the contracts earlier in the day.

The contracts with the Tecumseh Education Association, Tecumseh Admini- strators Association and the Instruction Assistants Group will run through the end of the 2012-13 school year. Superintendent Mike McAran said the district has not had active contracts with any of the bargaining units since the end of the 2008-09 school year.

Lori Spotts, TEA president, handed out a statement sheet at Monday's board meeting. In it, she said the teachers union made concessions on some of the contract language, as well as on teacher report and end times, and an increase in class sizes in a number of high school elective classes. In exchange, teachers received a cash payment.

"While the teachers appreciate the one-time, lump sum payment of $1,000, it doesn't ease the financial impact that state legislation has created for public school employees," her statement read. "Four consecutive years of no raises, and two years of state mandated salary freezes, has created a situation where Tecumseh teachers are taking home smaller paychecks today than they did in 2008-09."

Negotiations on new contracts with the unions will begin again after the school year ends, McAran said. At that time, the district expects to have a new superintendent as McAran is retiring at the end of the 2012-13 school year.